A blog trying to focus on all the nice things in life, those moments when everything turns out right. Finding the perfect fabric for that chart you love, the ideal sampler quote, just the right picture in all the 1000s of magazines you own. Meeting people who share your interests and obsessions and totally understand why you NEED that chart when you already have enough to last until you're 104

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Monday, 31 December 2018

My previous post showed my finishes for the year - 27 - the lowest total since I started this blog. But I did spend quite a lot of time on 2 BAPs which will be my focus for 2019. The Discworld Mappe and my Chatelaine Gardens of London.

First of all, here is the Pie for December:

Far too much time on the 12 Days of Christmas for such a small project but I was working several of those days and there are a load of colour changes. This is the reason why it took 44 days in total to complete on top of the 4 days I spent on it last year.

The Rosewood Manor Festive Quaker Tree is this year's 12 Days of Stitchmas project. Each day I start a new ornament from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Specials 2001 to 2010. I put one length in the new start and then spend the rest of the day on my Festive Quaker Tree.

On Day Five I stitched Dragon Dreams' Peace on Earth from 2001 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:

On Day Six I stitched Just Nan's A Little Joy from 2002 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:

On Day Seven I stitched The Sweetheart Tree's Christmas Joy Bellpull from 2006 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:

I am confident that I can complete the Festive Quaker Tree within the 12 days.

Let's have a look at the Annual Pie Chart now:

A little difficult to see but the top four projects were:

The Discworld Mappe - 44 days

Just Nan 12 Days of Christmas - 44 days

Gardens of London - 36 days

Mrs Peggotty's Alice - 31 days

I stitched Alice every day last year but she only features on the pie if I don't stitch anything else that day.

If I'd done the pie by designers then Just Nan would have been top with 89 days and Donna Kooler second with 50 days spread over the Zodiac and Leonore's Wedding Ornaments.

How did the spending go last month? Very well, thank you. Another zero spend month!

December

nothing

£0.00

Total

£0.00

I also tallied up the spend for the whole year:

Magazines

£66.32

Charts

£111.25

Fabric

£56.45

Threads

£18.03

Other

£26.98

Total

£279.03

That figure is £50 down on last year and is pretty much saving on magazines. I cancelled two subscriptions last year. I spent more on charts and less on fabric and threads. Hopefully next year will be even lower. I have everything I need for my two BAPs except the beads for the Chatelaine and it's going to be a long while before I need them!

Sunday, 30 December 2018

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "18 in '18"which are 18 charts I want to stitch in 2018 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12" etc etc)

Dessins DHC - Bande des Dragons- Finish

Lavender & Lace - Enchanted Alphabet - WIP

Chatelaine Designs - Gardens of London - WIP

Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs - WIP

Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map - WIP

Just Nan - Summer in the Square- Finish

Joan Elliott - Reading Fairy- Finish

Donna Kooler - Zodiac- Finish

Just Nan - Autumn Mouse in a House- Finish

Jardin Prive - Happy Hallowe'en Night- Finish

Dam Good Crafts - Dracula BookCover - Finish

Just Nan - 12 Days of Christmas- Finish

Satsuma Street - Libra- Finish

Satsuma Street - Aquarius

Mrs Peggotty - Alice and Flamingo - WIP

Bothy Threads - Alice in Wonderland

Just Nan - Summer Typography - WIP

Just Nan - Diamond Bouquet- Finish

This year I managed ten finishes from the list, worked on another six projects and only had two unstarted.

Here's the ten finishes:

I started 2018 with 27 WIPs and completed 12 of them. Over the course of the year I started 20 new projects and completed 15 of them. So that leaves me with a final total of 27 finishes and 20 WIPs going into 2019

Here are the ten Just Nan smalls shown on Friday:

And the other seven finishes, including a Just Nan small I left off that top photo!

I'm still working on my 2019 list and will be showing that on the first WIPocalypse update due on the 6th January, 2019.

side-note - this is my 90th WIPocalypse post! We seem to be doing a good job at holding off the end of the world.

Finally, a number of people have been asking about the Smalls SAL run by Stitching Lotus. Heather has been in touch with me to say she has someone interested in running the SAL in 2019 as she currently does not have the time to do so. No, the someone is NOT me, I have enough SALs already LOL. An announcement will be made shortly as to what is happening. So, keep stitching those Smalls!

Friday, 28 December 2018

My main Small project has been my 12 Days of Christmas by Just Nan which I completed earlier this month. I started it for 12 Days of Stitchmas last December and then completed one block per month throughout the year. Here it is all finished:

When I completed the final block I had a new start, a gifted piece from Heather of Stitching Lotus, a Lizzie*Kate design called Life is Better:

stitched over 1 on 32 count Lambswool linen

The adorable buttons were a gift from Ariadne, I just laid them on the fabric for the photo but will sew them on when I fully finish the piece.

When that one was finished I had four days free to stitch anything I wanted, unfortunately the frog came to visit!

Then it was 12 Days of Stitchmas again! This year I decided to make a start on the 12 Ornaments I will be stitching for the Christmas Ornament Blog run by Kaye. There are three themes in 2019 and I have decided to go for the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special 2001 - 2010. I have chosen my 12 designs from the magazines and started four so far. Today is the Fourth Day of Christmas.

On Day One I stitched Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree from 2009:

On Day Two I stitched Ink Circle's Poinsettia from 2008 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:

On Day Three I stitched The Sweetheart Tree's Noel Christmas Bellpull from 2007 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:

I debated whether to stitch design 2 as well but thought that as the Quaker Tree is quite large, I'd rather focus on that each day. I will thank myself once we get further on and I'm not trying to fit 10 designs into one day!

On Day Four I stitched Dragon Dreams' Peace on Earth from 2002 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree from 2009:

I am choosing my own colours on the Festive Quaker Tree and didn't get much done today as the paler colours blend into the fabric too much. I frogged and will restitch with a medium blue and B5200.

Throughout the year I was stitching 30-a-Day on my Just Nan Smalls. That ground to a halt in September when I switched to Leonore's Wedding present.

I did manage to complete 10 Just Nan Smalls and here they all are:

And here are Leonore and Felix's wedding presents:

Finally, there is housekeeping to be done on the blog, the "19 in '19" list to be finalised, the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL to set up for next year and the Happy Dance list and blog to be updated. Plus rather a lot of emails to answer. Good thing I have some time off work!

Hope you enjoyed the Advent Calendar this year! Remember to leave comments on each day to let people know you have visited too.

I have to say, the idea of asking for Christmas Songs was a genius idea, though I say so myself! It's been so much fun listening to all the songs everyone has shared while I read and comment. I shouldn't pick a favourite really but I did love the video of the Silent Monks performing the Hallelujah Chorus that Deborah shared on her post. Here it is again:

2019 GG

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About Me

I'm a stitcher from the East of England, married with two boys.
I've been stitching since 1993 and have a dated sampler to prove it! I love the cross stitch chat forums and discovered blog-stalking a while back then started one of my own.
I love to stitch fantasy themes and samplers most of all. Mirabilia, L&L, Just Nan, Joan Elliot and TW are my favourites but my ambition is to stitch a Chatelaine...one day!
edit to say - 2017 is that day! I officially started my first Chatelaine mandala on 10th February 2017.